From families to fearless activists: CNN reveals the heroes behind the news

Updated 6:12 AM ET, Fri March 31, 2017

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Photos:From family to fearless campaigners: CNN correspondents and anchors reveal their heroes

Father Khalil Jaar, chosen by Jomana Karadsheh – "In 2014, Jordanian churches opened their doors to Christian refugees from northern Iraqi cities like Mosul that were taken over by ISIS," explains Karadsheh. "Father Khalil Jaar never turned anyone away, no matter their faith. Three years on St Mary's is still home for displaced Christians ... and Father Khalil helps to house hundreds of other families outside the church."

"Iraqi refugees who fled Mosul and arrived at his door told us that they had heard about him when they were in Erbil before they even left for Jordan. People passed his name around as someone who could help ... I asked him how he does it. He says he gets his strength from the refugees who have been through so much and he says he will never ever turn anyone in need away, no matter where they are from or their religion."

Photos:From family to fearless campaigners: CNN correspondents and anchors reveal their heroes

Mark and Scott Kelly, chosen by Dr. Sanjay Gupta – "We don't know how climate's going to affect this planet," Dr. Gupta says. "We need to start thinking about other places in the universe that we may have to live on one day. In order to understand how to do that, we've got to understand what it's going to do to us first."

The Kelly twins, two NASA astronauts, volunteered for a one-year experiment to test the long term-effects of space on the body. While Mark stayed on terra firma, Scott spent a year aboard the International Space Station. Both were extensively monitored, with preliminary findings revealed in February 2017.

"It's easy to look at it in retrospect and say 'that was a really cool thing that you did,' but the reality is they had to take a lot of chances," Dr. Gupta says. "They had to say goodbye to their family and friends and without the clear understanding that they'd ever see them again. That's a really hard thing to do in the pursuit of trying to learn something for all of humanity."

Photos:From family to fearless campaigners: CNN correspondents and anchors reveal their heroes

Dr. David Nichols, chosen by Oren Liebermann – "I met Dr. David Nichols in late 2009," remembers Liebermann. "I set out to do a story about a pilot who flies to Tangier Island -- a tiny island in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay -- to treat the patients there. I quickly realized Dr. Nichols is far more than that."

Dr. Nichols died a year later in 2010 after a battle with cancer, but his legacy in medicine is remarkable. He served the island's community (numbered in the hundreds) for 31 years. Working for the large part of his career from an old clinic on Tangier in a state of disrepair, it was replaced with the David B. Nichols Health Center, a state of the art facility, months before his death.

"On a personal level, he brought healthcare to a population that desperately needed it," adds Liebermann. "He was named Country Doctor of the Year in 2006. Dr. Nichols gave of himself generously and unfailingly, without expecting anything in return. He focused on improving the lives of those around him, and, as a consequence, I believe he made the world a better place."

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Photos:From family to fearless campaigners: CNN correspondents and anchors reveal their heroes

Eva Mozes Kor, chosen by Max Foster – For Foster, heroism goes by the name of Eva Kor. At 10 years old in 1944 she entered Auschwitz, and was quickly orphaned. She and her twin sister survived but at a terrible cost, forced to endure the experiments of Nazi doctor Josef Mengele. Remarkably, years later Kor would preach forgiveness, and has been spreading the word through her foundation CANDLES.

"She was the ultimate survival story," says Foster. "It's extraordinary, the interview, because it starts in utter desperation but ends in a very hopeful situation ... She's so utterly unselfish. It can't be easy for her, doing what she's doing, but she's doing it to give back to the world."

Photos:From family to fearless campaigners: CNN correspondents and anchors reveal their heroes

Matt Zeller (left), chosen by Michael Holmes – "After many trips to Iraq and Afghanistan I became one of many who were concerned about the plight of translators," says Holmes. "(They) had literally risked their lives working for the US military and media, and who were finding it extremely difficult to get one of the very few visas being made available to leave the country for the US for their own safety."

"Matt Zeller, a US veteran whose translator saved his life in Afghanistan (Janis Shinwari, pictured right), has become a powerhouse of lobbying and action to deal with this major issue. Against major bureaucratic and political odds, his group, No One Left Behind, has managed to get thousands of translators and their families to safety, and continues to try to get thousands more out of Iraq and Afghanistan, where their lives are still at risk."

"He is a true inspiration and almost certainly his efforts and the efforts of his team have literally saved lives."

Photos:From family to fearless campaigners: CNN correspondents and anchors reveal their heroes

Marla Ruzicka, chosen by Ivan Watson – "My hero is Marla Ruzicka," says Watson. CNN's dedication to Ruzicka after she was killed by a car bomb in Iraq on April 16, 2005, was titled "World knew her simply is Marla." In 2003, the American activist founded Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC) as she witnessed the fall of Baghdad. A tenacious force hailing from California, Ruzicka went door to door surveying civilian casualties of the Iraq war.

"Marla Ruzicka taught me that a single person truly can make a difference," says Watson. "With courage, compassion and a great deal of joy, she was single-handedly able to convince Congress to pass legislation to budget $10 million to help Iraqi civilians hurt by the US military. She gave her life struggling to help these victims."

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Photos:From family to fearless campaigners: CNN correspondents and anchors reveal their heroes

Desmond Tutu, chosen by Robyn Curnow – "I first encountered Desmond Tutu in person when he came to my school," Robyn Curnow recalls. It was the late 1980s and apartheid was in its violent death throes, but the man South Africa knows as "The Arch" still found time to talk to students. "The man that I listened to then was the same that I ended up speaking to and interviewing over the next few decades."

Interviewing the now-Archbishop Emeritus for his 80th birthday, Curnow describes his "positive energy that defies suffering. He knows that he comes from a place where pain and suffering are probably more common, but he chooses joy."

Photos:From family to fearless campaigners: CNN correspondents and anchors reveal their heroes

The White Helmets (Syria Civil Defence), chosen by Hala Gorani – "Being a White Helmet is Syria has been called the most dangerous job in the world," says Hala Gorani. "There is nothing more dangerous than running towards a building that has become a pile of rubble."

Formed late 2012, the White Helmets began training as a 25-strong unit, working for a small stipend of $150 a month. Twenty-five men have become 3,000, but not without losses -- 145 have been killed in the line of duty and 500 injured, says Gorani.

"They are making a difference, they've potentially saved tens of thousands of lives," says the CNN host. "It would be very easy for them not to do it, and yet they do it. I think that's real bravery."

Photos:From family to fearless campaigners: CNN correspondents and anchors reveal their heroes

JiaJia (Jason), chosen by Will Ripley – "I've interviewed a lot of people, and nobody has ever inspired me like Jia Jia," says Ripley. The Chinese orphan, whose botched spina bifida surgery left him wheelchair-bound, struggled to find a family to adopt him in Beijing. Then a Missouri family 6,600 miles away heard his story. JiaJia today is known as Jason and is thriving in the US.

"To see him in his classroom learning English, out on the playground during recess, with his family, with his friends, smiling and laughing, and to see where he came from was one of the most powerful moments of my life," Ripley says.

Photos:From family to fearless campaigners: CNN correspondents and anchors reveal their heroes

David Attenborough, chosen by Christiane Amanpour – "He probably has done more than any single individual to crystallize for the world why taking climate change seriously is a moral and an existential imperative," says Amanpour. CNN chief international correspondent interviewed naturalist David Attenborough at climate conference COP21, where he told her about the plight of the natural world which at 90 years old he is still exploring.

"He's my hero," says Amanpour, "because he's not a young man anymore, but he's still fighting the good fight."

Photos:From family to fearless campaigners: CNN correspondents and anchors reveal their heroes

Luis Silva, chosen by Patrick Oppmann – "Luis Silva, the comedian known as 'Panfilo' (second right), gained worldwide fame in 2016 when he appeared in a sketch with President Obama in Havana," says Oppmann. "But for years, Panfilo has entertained Cubans with his provocative humor that skirts government censorship to poke fun at the absurdities of life in Cuba."Watch President Obama appear on 'Panfilo.'

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Photos:From family to fearless campaigners: CNN correspondents and anchors reveal their heroes

Amber Scorah, chosen by Clare Sebastian – A heartbreaking story brought Amber Scorah to prominence, and has made her Sebastian's hero. "She is spearheading a campaign for a parental leave law in the US," the CNN correspondent explains. "Her baby son Karl died on his first day in daycare in 2015, after she had agonized over whether she should go back to work and keep her family's healthcare or stay with him and leave her job. She dropped him off and then a couple of hours later came back to feed him and he had already died -- no one knows why.

"I was struck by her bravery in turning such a tragic event into public and heartfelt campaign."

Photos:From family to fearless campaigners: CNN correspondents and anchors reveal their heroes

Elon Musk, chosen by Kristie Lu Stout – "He's a dreamer of the dreams," says Lu Stout. "What makes Elon Musk different is he doesn't have these crazy dreams alone, he is actually turning them into reality."

Serial entrepreneur, tech billionaire and self-confessed nerd, Musk once lived in a rental office in California and showered at the local YMCA. Now the co-founder of Paypal, CEO of Tesla Motors, founder of SpaceX and OpenAI investor is worth $14.1 billion, according to Forbes. He's changed your life, and is shaping all our futures, whether we realize it or not.

Photos:From family to fearless campaigners: CNN correspondents and anchors reveal their heroes

Jeff Evans, chosen by Ben Wedeman – Wedeman crossed paths with Jeff Evans (left), a physician's assistant, emergency room worker and mountain climber, near the front lines in Iraq earlier this year. An adventurer happy to tour the world's most hostile environments, Mosul proved a different kind of challenge.

"We met Jeff while doing a story about volunteer medics outside Mosul," Wedeman recalls. "We watched as he calmly, confidently treated the wounded. He and his colleagues, from the US and one from Germany, left the grizzled, war-seasoned CNN crew humbled and in awe."

Photos:From family to fearless campaigners: CNN correspondents and anchors reveal their heroes

Rafaela Silva, chosen by Shasta Darlington – "Rafaela Silva (right) was quick to pick a fight while growing up in the 'City of God' slum in Rio de Janeiro -- but she channeled those skills to become one of Brazil's top judokas," says Darlington. "After suffering racist epithets in the 2012 Olympics, she won Brazil's first gold medal in the 2016 Games, showing the country and the kids from 'City of God' just what it means to never give up."Discover more about the story of Rafaela Silver, Rio's golden girl.

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Photos:From family to fearless campaigners: CNN correspondents and anchors reveal their heroes

Margaret Aspinall, chosen by Don Riddell – "Most people, certainly of my generation in the UK, remember the Hillsborough disaster," recalls Riddell. "It's often said it's kind of our JFK moment -- especially for football fans." Riddell remembers the smears that followed the death of 96 Liverpool football fans, who were blamed for the deadly crush in 1989 by the police and some parts of the media.

"Margaret was one of these people who decided she was so furious about what had happened, and the way the families had been blamed, that she was determined, for her son, to get to the bottom of it." Aspinall, who lost her son James in the disaster, campaigned for three decades and was vindicated when a 2016 inquest ruled the 96 supporters were unlawfully killed, and Liverpool fans were absolved of blame.

Photos:From family to fearless campaigners: CNN correspondents and anchors reveal their heroes

Monley Elysee, chosen by Anderson Cooper – "(He's) a sign of hope," says Anderson Cooper. Monley Elysee was pulled from the rubble of his home nearly eight days after a cataclysmic earthquake struck Haiti in 2010. Both his parents had perished, but he had survived. Cooper followed Elysee's treatment and the AC360 team have been checking up on him ever since -- in fact, the 12-year-old now wants to become a doctor.

"I just think there's something about that determination that little boy showed ... to not only survive the horror of the earthquake but to progress," Cooper says. "To me, that's just heroic."

Photos:From family to fearless campaigners: CNN correspondents and anchors reveal their heroes

Christine Lagarde, chosen by Richard Quest – "The person I meet and always come away from feeling 'wow' is Christine Lagarde, the head of the (International Monetary Fund)," says the editor-at-large of CNN Money. "I've met a lot of famous people, a lot of powerful people -- and a lot of them like to tell you they're famous and powerful in great detail. Not Christine Lagarde ... (She) has devoted her entire life to helping other women."Discover more about Christine Lagarde.

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Photos:From family to fearless campaigners: CNN correspondents and anchors reveal their heroes

Journalists, chosen by Becky Anderson – "2016 (was) an exceptionally busy year in news," says Becky Anderson. "Throughout it all, journalists have been on the scene to witness events unfold and to report how these massive events are impacting the lives of people around the world ... It's not always the most glamorous of jobs, doing countless hours of live programming or pulling all-nighters, so I salute them for their courage, dedication, and their tireless efforts to go there and get the story."Discover more about Becky Anderson's heroes.

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Photos:From family to fearless campaigners: CNN correspondents and anchors reveal their heroes

The McLaughlins, chosen by Erin McLaughlin – For her heroes, international correspondent McLaughlin looked close to home.

"I'd have to say my parents," she says. "Without their love and support from thousands of miles away, I would never have been able to pursue my dreams. It's only as I've gotten older that I've fully realized the importance of the values they imparted: hard work, fairness, truth, and a sense of obligation to the world around me."

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(CNN)Over the past three months, CNN Heroes series My Hero has asked CNN correspondents and anchors to illuminate the lives of their personal heroes. Now the series looks back on these inspirational people -- and reveals a host of new, previously unseen heroes.